Pitt’s Meme Sharp Wins Gold at USA Diving Winter Nationals
12/13/2017 8:00:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
GREENSBORO, N.C.—Pitt senior diver Meme Sharp won the USA Diving Winter Nationals 1-meter springboard title on Wednesday evening at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
Sharp scored 476.75 points in the competition to earn the gold medal. She entered the final with a second-place qualifying effort; then in the final, Sharp surpassed Texas' Allison Gibson, the defending NCAA champion on 1-meter, in a dramatic final set of dives.
"I didn't really focus on being super intense," Sharp told USA Diving in a post-meet interview. "I wasn't really focusing on my scores or where I was. I was ecstatic when I saw I was second going into the final, and I just went on autopilot and dove."
"For Meme to make her first USA Diving finals and become a champion was just incredible," first-year Pitt diving head coach Katie Hazelton said. "Meme has been working really, really hard and diving so consistently in her training recently, and she executed brilliantly today. I'm so happy for her."
Sharp, a former ACC champion diver at Pitt, started her final with a nearly perfect inward 1½ somersault pike that scored 55.20 points, her highest-scoring dive of the day. That opening dive set the tone for an intense final as she held off Gibson by 6.00 points for gold.
A native of Noblesville, Ind., and the only senior diver currently on Pitt's roster, Sharp added two more dives of 50 or more points in the final, a back 1½ somersault 1½ twist free (51.25) in round two and a forward 2½ somersault pike (54.60) to close the final and finish off her victory.
The 2017 USA Diving Winter National Championships continue through Tuesday, Dec. 19 in Greensboro.
Former Pitt NCAA champion and current volunteer assistant coach Dominic Giordano competed in the men's 1-meter springboard and will also dive in the 3-meter event tomorrow. Sharp will also return to action in the women's 3-meter springboard at the USA Diving Winter Nationals on Friday.
Events can be live streamed here.
#H2P | #H2oP | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Sharp scored 476.75 points in the competition to earn the gold medal. She entered the final with a second-place qualifying effort; then in the final, Sharp surpassed Texas' Allison Gibson, the defending NCAA champion on 1-meter, in a dramatic final set of dives.
"I didn't really focus on being super intense," Sharp told USA Diving in a post-meet interview. "I wasn't really focusing on my scores or where I was. I was ecstatic when I saw I was second going into the final, and I just went on autopilot and dove."
"For Meme to make her first USA Diving finals and become a champion was just incredible," first-year Pitt diving head coach Katie Hazelton said. "Meme has been working really, really hard and diving so consistently in her training recently, and she executed brilliantly today. I'm so happy for her."
Sharp, a former ACC champion diver at Pitt, started her final with a nearly perfect inward 1½ somersault pike that scored 55.20 points, her highest-scoring dive of the day. That opening dive set the tone for an intense final as she held off Gibson by 6.00 points for gold.
A native of Noblesville, Ind., and the only senior diver currently on Pitt's roster, Sharp added two more dives of 50 or more points in the final, a back 1½ somersault 1½ twist free (51.25) in round two and a forward 2½ somersault pike (54.60) to close the final and finish off her victory.
The 2017 USA Diving Winter National Championships continue through Tuesday, Dec. 19 in Greensboro.
Former Pitt NCAA champion and current volunteer assistant coach Dominic Giordano competed in the men's 1-meter springboard and will also dive in the 3-meter event tomorrow. Sharp will also return to action in the women's 3-meter springboard at the USA Diving Winter Nationals on Friday.
Events can be live streamed here.
#H2P | #H2oP | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
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